The U.S. did not reveal why
Zawahiri wanted some action now. Yemen noted that the plot they had
thwarted was not believed to be part of the broader al Qaeda plan to
make a spectacular attack at the end of the holy month of Ramadan to
regain some respect in the Moslem world.

as for the airport that burned down in Kenya: well, they haven't commented on the real story behind that attack, but my take is that they couldn't get explosives or the bad guys on the planes. And anyone could have started a fire...

or maybe the NPA or just a private feud. Who knows? Lots of small bombings in the south in the last year...the bad news is that the bomb threats might lead to cancelling the local festival.

Not in our area, although we do have Muslims here (including some local vendors).

do you know that we have our bags examined and are wanded down with a metal detector when we go to the mall? The main threat is the NPA and/or (more commonly) local gangs who get mad and bomb you if you don't pay protection.

Even beggars who ply their trade around the Vatican have clued in
that something has changed. Vatican personnel say that if they spurn a
request for spare change today, they're likely to hear back, "Cosa direbbe Papa Francesco?" -- meaning, "What would Pope Francis say?"

Old lefty Archbishop Cruz likes the new pope. Like Francis, he has a worldview that links prolife/antieugenics opinions with anti corruption, care of the environment, and non violence.

Some right wing Catholic blogs were upset that they used cheap plastic cups to give out communion miss the point: when half a million are expected, and 3 million show up, you have to make use of what's available....Anyway, as all Indiana Jones fans know: Christ's cup was not exactly made of precious metals (it was clay, and in the movie, it is shown that it was coated with gold, probably by devotees).

Related item: One right wing blog complained about Elysium being political.
Of course, it is political, but so was district 9, and the Hunger Games.
But with a South African director, it might have just as much to do with the history of apartheid, or the gated suburbs in third world countries as with LA...

When I read the yuppie oriented NYTimes or similar yuppie type stuff on the web, all I can do is shake my head and say: Children are picking stuff out of garbage heaps, and moms are begging for money to pay for their medicine, and you are worried about what?

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HeirsOfDurinBlog has translated an article on the next Hobbit from a German Fan magazine. German language experts can join in the comments whether or not it was translated correctly.